Archaeology in Leicestershire and Rutland 1978 by Alan Mc Whirr
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Archaeology in Leicestershire and Rutland 1978 by Alan Mc Whirr Sproxton Round Barrow Excavation. Interim Report Excavation of a Bronze Age round barrow in the parish of Sproxton was carried out between 21st August 1978 and 12th December 1978 directed by Patrick Clay for the Leicestershire Museums Field Unit. It was situated near the village of Saltby, just south of the King Lud Entrenchment earthwork at Grid Reference SK 867278, and was the southernmost of two barrows scheduled by the DoE. Both are mentioned in Nichols1 and this barrow had been opened by the duke of Rutland in the eighteenth century and again in September 1860 by Thomas Bateman2 who found no burials but did observe traces of burning near the centre. Recent research and fieldwork suggest that originally there was a barrow cemetery in this area of at least ten barrows. Recent plough damage to this site necessitated its examination, with the kind co-operation of the landowners, Buckminster Estates, and the farmer Mr. Donald Copley. Following a micro-contour and resistivity survey by the museum's survey team, an area of 1,200 square metres was examined(Fig. 14 and Plate 1). This revealed a low mound surrounded by a ring ditch, 36 m in dimater, 2 m wide and I m deep. To the south and west and cutting the ring ditch were field ditches of a later (possibly Romano-British) date. Removal of the mound, now less than a metre high, showed this to be a composite barrow of stone and earthen construction including two stone kerbs of 16 m and 14 m diamter. The outer kerb was constructed of between two and five courses of weathered lime stone blocks whilst the inner kerb consisted of upright slabs between o · 2 m and 1 · o m high. The inner kerb was not a complete circle and occurred where the greatest concentrations of stone were used in the mound perhaps serving to give extra retention. The inner kerb stones in the north-east quadrant were at a 45° angle. Upcast from the ring ditch formed a circle around the perimeter of the barrow outside the outer kerb and would have originally formed a limestone capping to the mound. Between the upcast and the ring ditch there was a berm 2 m wide. The excavations mentioned in Nichols were located at the north and south sides of the barrow whilst Bateman's excavation was identified as a metre deep trench cutting in from the north to the centre of the mound. The mound was removed in its entirety and approximately 50% of the ring ditch excavated. Exposure of the pre-barrow ground surface indicated traces of timber Trans. Vol. Lill A A - 18th c. Excavation a - Animal Disturbance Fig 14. Plan of Sproxton Round Barrow ( Drawn by P. N. Clay) structures consisting of stake holes in four concentric circles, 10 m, 9 · 5 m, 9 m and 8 m, in diameter. A small structure suggested by four stake holes was found at the centre. These timbers had been destroyed prior to the erection of the mound and charcoal concentrations on the ground surface may indicate their being burnt. The primary burial was located at the centre of the mound and consisted of a cremation in the remains of a carbonised wooden container, placed in an oval pit o · 9 m X o · 4 m x o · 5 m deep. The trench cut by Thomas Bateman had missed the burial by 10 ems. Three satellite burials were found on the south and west sides of the barrow outside the outer kerb. On the west side there was a cremation ( 1) in a shallow hearth 1 · o m x o · 5 m x o · 2 m deep sealed within the limestone upcast. Two metres to the south of this there was another cremation (2) contained in an inverted collared urn and placed in a small circular pit o · 2 m diameter x o · 5 m deep. To the south side of the barrow there was another cremation (3), the spine of which was only partially calcined, placed in an oval pit o · 3 m x o · 2 m x 1 · o m deep with the remains of another possible wooden container. These two burials (2 and 3) were cut into the ground surface sealed below the limestone upcast. Another burial (4) consisting of a cremation in an urn (now broken) in a shallow hearth, was cut into slip overlying the berm outside the limestone upcast on the south side of the ARCHAEOLOGY IN LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 77 barrow and was probably a secondary insertion. A hearth feature cut into the limestone upcast contained large quantities of charcoal but no burnt bone while two more small pits contained no associated finds. Fragments of two collared urns in the upper ditch silting may have been from disturbed secondary burials. The pre-barrow ground surface (average depth 20 ems) was then removed, beneath which was found some evidence of burning and two shallow gulley features, with no associated finds, cut into the natural limestone. This can possibly be interpreted as evidence for heath clearance for which a radio carbon date should be obtainable. Our knowledge of the Leicestershire Bronze Age is very incomplete, the only controlled excavations being the barrows at Lockington3 dug in 1954 by M. Posnansky and Cossington4 dug in 1976 by Colm O'Brien, both of which were on gravel terracing. This is the first thorough examination of a barrow on the higher ground of the area and will add considerably to our knowledge of the Bronze Age in Leicestershire and on the Lincolnshire Jurassic Limestone belt. Patrick Clay Notes I. J. Nichols, The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester (1795-1815), Vol. II, p. 305 2. T. Bateman, Ten Years' Digging (1864), pp. 109-111 3. M. Posnansky, 'The Excavation of a Bronze Age Round Barrow at Lockington', T.L.A.H.S. XXXI (1955), 17-29 4. C. O'Brien, 'Excavations at Cossington-An Interim Report', T.L.A.H.S., LI (1975-6), 56-57 Austin Friars, Leicester (SK 580044) June 1978 saw the completion of the final phase of the excavation of the Austin Friars, West Bridge (see T.L.A.H.S. XLIX (1973-4), 61; L (1974-5). 57). Evidence from the previous excavation suggested that possibly the last area available for excavation, immediately to the south, would reveal part of the friary church, but as often happens, the excavation proved more complex, and certainly more interesting than expected. The church was not discovered and would now seem to lie even further south, under the present road. An area of 313 square metres was opened up to reveal three sides of a second cloister. This cloister with an internal width (north to south) of seventeen metres is smaller than the cloister to the north, but its position in the friary makes it the major cloister. Parts of the cloister walk were also un covered and this seems to be paved on all three sides with floor tiles, the pavement being 2·4 m wide. Only a group of fifteen tiles remained in situ, the rest of the pavement was stripped to its mortar bedding upon which the tiles left their impressions. This and the evidence from the rubble lying on the mortar bed, indicated that the tiles were laid in a diaper pattern, although the north cloister pattern was slightly altered by a single line of tiles laid square to each other. These patterns were made up of a variety of plain glazed tiles, usually purple-black coloured, interspaced with decorated, inlaid tiles. These inlaid tiles were all of mid-fourteenth century date, and chiefly from the Nottingham kilns. A single fifteenth century relief tile was found amongst the pavement rubble. One of the tiles found in situ provided some very useful dating evidence, as it bore the Arms of England after 1340. These pavements were not the original floors of the cloister walk, for sealed beneath the east cloister walk were a series of graves, lying closely packed, side by side and fitting snuggly between the two walls of the cloister walk. Ten inhumations were recovered, including male and female adults, and adolescents. No burials were found in the north or south cloister walk, but only small areas of these were excavated. Two burials were found on the south side of the cloister garth. To the east of the cloisters, and using for its west wall the east wall of the cloister walk was the east cloister range of buildings, including the chapter house. Only the west end of these buildings was uncovered and these consisted of three parallel, east-west walls with massive pebble foundations 1 · 4 m deep, with their walls entirely robbed. The chapter house contained six burials including male adults and some children. Out of the overall total of eighteen burials, eight had belt buckles. As friars wore belts this evidence has aroused the speculation that the belted burials were friars. To the south of the chapter house were two more east-west walls, one with a foundation one metre deep, the other, one and a half metres deep. An insufficient area was exposed to allow interpretation of these two walls, but they were both later than the wall of the east cloister walk. An earlier building was found below the east cloister range, and below the north cloister walk. This was a long narrow building 6 · 8 m wide with an annex on its north side No definite ends to this building were found, but its minimum length was 25·6 m.